In the only upset of the night, Beach City Market beat AAA Mortgage Market 44-36 to hand them their first loss of the season during San Diego Hoops action on Dec. 13.

Beach City Market scored twice within the first minute of the game. AAA was on the board thanks to a 2-point shot by Robert Wiggins. He answered again, sinking a free throw to keep AAA within 3 points.

About 10 minutes into the game, AAA tied the game at 10-10, but struggled to make their shots and take control of the ball once down on their end of the court. AAA controlled the rebounds, but did not execute their shots. Both teams stepped up the defense but failed to score on their next two drives.

Beach City Market’s Sergio Villegas scored a basket followed immediately by an answering shot by Larry Granville to tie the game again at 12-12. Villegas then scored 4 more points on two free throws and another basket resulting from a fast break pass from Sereeta Jones.

Wiggins shot back with another score as both teams shot back to back. Beach City Market managed to keep a 4-point lead thanks to another shot by Jones from inside. Jones and Villegas both scored once more each, while James McDermott, Wiggins and Granville each scored for AAA before the end of the half. Beach City Market held a tight 24-22 halftime lead.

Beach City Market came in with the ball in the second half and scored on their first drive thanks to an outside shot. AAA drove hard for the basket, but couldn’t quite find the bucket. Two successive drives by each team netted zero points, as the both defenses were working overtime to try to slow down the other team’s scoring.

Two baskets later and Beach City Market was ahead by 5 points, their largest lead so far. But their lead was short-lived as Granville answered back with a 3-pointer for their first score of the half.

AAA had again tied the game on a basket by Wiggins with 12 minutes left. Both teams traded baskets throughout the remainder of the game, but Beach City Market managed to net three times as many shots as AAA.

AAA missed free throws all night. Had they managed to hit the nine shots they missed in the second half alone, they may have won the game. AAA had been tied for first place in the league with Morgan Stanley, but now slides into a tie for second place with Beach City Market at 3-1.

In another game on Dec. 13, The Welch Group used effective defensive strategies to defeat Colorworks Painting 39-32 in the lowest scoring game of the night.

The Welch Group’s Julio Montano took control of a rebound and drove hard to score first. Both teams shifted their defense into high gear as they each successfully kept the other team from scoring on their next two drives. The Welch Group’s Rick Saunders sank a free throw to bring their lead up to 3 points, but Colorworks’ Tom Nagashima answered back with a jump shot to finally put them on the board three minutes into the half.

Jason Farr sank the next basket, to bring The Welch Group ahead by 3 points again. Both teams drove hard and defended well in the following few minutes, but only sank about half their shots. The Welch Group held a 12-5 lead thanks to a 3-point shot by Montano with 15 minutes left in the half.

Colorworks’ Jeff Praught scored the next point, the second of his free throws, and Martin Cherrier scored immediately following, putting the ball up and sinking it from under the basket to close The Welch Group’s lead back down to 4 points.

Elijah Cate then countered and tossed in another basket to stretch their lead back to 6 points.

As the clock continued to count down, both teams took several shots on their baskets, but only managed to make one of three shots. The Welch Group held a slim 23-19 lead at halftime.

Nagashima fired off the first shot in the second half and whittled away at The Welch Group’s lead. As both teams struggled with their offense, they each made a couple of bad passes and couldn’t quite get the balls to fall on their fast breaks.

In the first 10 minutes of the second half, neither team had scored more than 5 points, with several successive drives netting missed shots, intercepted passes and unsuccessful foul conversions.

In the last 10 minutes of the game, both teams traded baskets and Colorworks came within 4 points. Cate sank a free throw to edge The Welch Group up to a 5-point lead, while Angel Hernandez sunk a shot that dashed the last of Colorworks’ hopes.

In other games on Dec. 13, Morgan Stanley defeated 2200 Club 64-57 to remain undefeated at 4-0. 2200 Club remains winless at 0-4. Urban Mo’s dominated Pecs 54-27 and sits in a three-way tie for fourth place with Pecs and The Welch Group at 2-2. Colorworks remains winless at 0-4.

The top scorers for the week included 2200 Club’s Frank Nunez with 34 points and Morgan Stanley’s Paul Demke with 25 points. Nagashima and Morgan Stanley’s Brandon Patchett each scored 17 points.

All San Diego Hoops games are played at the Joan Kroc Center, located at 6845 University Ave., each Wednesday from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.

For more information about S.D. Hoops, visit their Web site at www.sdhoops.net.

Results from the Dec. 20 games will be published in the Dec. 28 edition of the Gay & Lesbian Times.